


A Crown of Dead Dandelions

by orphan_account



Category: Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 07:53:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6795628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account





	A Crown of Dead Dandelions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cody](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cody/gifts).



Simon sat in a sunny patch of the forest, taking in the warm sun as he thought. He found the more he thought, the less happy he was. He shook his head in a feeble attempt to stop thinking altogether. 

“Simon?” Simon’s head shot up, and in front of him stood Ralph. The taller boy, with his fair hair hanging just above his eyes, was looking at him quizzically. 

“What are you doing out on your own?” Ralph asked in an almost scolding tone. Simon tried to speak, but found he couldn’t and was left staring at Ralph dumbly.

 

“You’re batty, you know that?” Ralph said as he sat down beside Simon. Simon blushed and nodded his head. He knew all right. The choir boys had said it often enough before the island, “Simon’s batty, and always throwing a faint too.” He had heard Robert say to Maurice.

He was Simon, batty little Simon who nobody liked. He found himself blinking back tears, and quickly looked away from Ralph. Ralph noticed and felt both awkward and terrible immediately. 

 

“Simon.” Ralph touched the smaller boys shoulder tentatively. 

“Don’t feel bad, I mean there’s worst things to be than batty. At least you help out, more than the others do,” Ralph said, meaning to be comforting, but found he was also venting his own frustration. 

“Jack?” Simon said dumbly; he knew Ralph was obsessed with Jack, and vice versa; they just didn’t understand each other. 

“Him and his pig! Why, they’re off hunting now. I told him I needed help adjusting the shelters,” Ralph grumbled. 

“I can help you with the shelters,” Simon suggested; he was batty, small and stupid, but he could help with the shelters. 

“Don’t bother. They’re not working, why should we?” Ralph replied, at first irritably, but then breaking into a grin.

“Let’s have fun. What can we do that’s fun?” Ralph continued. Simon only shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t know much about having fun, if he was honest. He knew other boys found rugger fun back home, and hunting on the island, but Simon had never enjoyed either of those activities. They were too violent, and he was terrible at them anyway. He winced at a memory of getting knocked down playing rugger. As he remembered, inspiration struck him. 

“There’s berries, deep in the forest. We could pick some,” Simon suggested, smiling timidly at Ralph. Ralph thought for a minute; not exactly what he was thinking, but then again, what had he expected? 

“Alright,” Ralph said, picking himself up and dusting off his shorts. “Come with me.” 

Before Simon realized what he was doing, he took Ralph’s hand and began leading him through the forest. Ralph blushed; what was he doing? Shaking his head, Ralph let him go. Everyone knew Simon was batty; Ralph could hardly expect him to make any sense.

They stopped at a bush of brilliant red berries. Ralph’s jaw dropped. He was surprised Simon hadn’t spoken up about this discovery before now.

“Simon! This is wizard! You should have said something in assembly,” Ralph told the smaller boy excitedly. Simon smiled shyly at Ralph, but shook his head. 

“I can’t speak, not at assemblies. Not properly I mean,” Simon tried to explain. Ralph felt a surge of sympathy for Simon, and placed a hand on his dark hair. 

“I’ll do it then,” he said easily. 

“Not yet though, we’ll have fun first. Just the two of us,” Ralph continued, reaching up to pick the a ripe berry. Simon followed suit, but he could only reach the berries that weren’t yet ripe. He bit into it anyway, savouring the bitter taste in his mouth. Ralph watched this, curious and amused. He bent down and picked one of the unready berries. He popped it into his mouth, and instantly grimaced. 

“Golly, that’s sour! Simon, try one of these.” Ralph reached for a ripe berry and held it out to Simon. Simon took it, and bit into it slowly, his eyes going wide as he did so. 

“See, better isn’t it?” Ralph laughed, and Simon joined in. The laughter filled the forest, and as the sun shone down on them all the problems of the island vanished. The boys forgot about their inner demons, and in that moment, there was only light. 

We found wonderland  
You and I got lost in it  
And we pretended it could last forever

 

Ralph had told the other boys about the berry patch the next assembly, and had regretted it almost instantly after. The littluns had all gone rushing into the forest, their greedy hands quickly picking all the berries they could. Then the biguns, lead by Jack, had mushed the berries and used them for paint. In barely a day, the patch was barren and trodden on. Ralph sighed; it figured. As batty as Simon may be, at least he didn’t destroy everything he came across. Though perhaps he was being unfair; of course the whole group would destroy the berries, but one individual, any individual wouldn’t have. Would they? For a brief moment the faces of Jack and Roger fluttered through his mind. 

Ralph was taking a solitary walk through the forest. He almost hoped to bump into Simon again. He laughed to himself, he really must be lonely, to want a batty boy years younger than him for company. 

“Ralph?” Ralph heard panting, and turned around to see Simon running after him. His dark hair flopping as he ran.  
“What is it Simon?” Ralph asked, hoping nothing was wrong. 

“I just thought…you might want some company, is all.” Simon blushed as he admitted this. He seemed ready to turn around and run back, but Ralph spoke first. 

“Come along, then. You don’t happen to know of another berry patch, do you?” Ralph asked doubtfully. 

“Well, not berries…but there’s a flower patch.” Simon looked at Ralph nervously, as if expecting to be made fun of. 

“Nowhere else to go.” Ralph shrugged his shoulders, and Simon smiled. Ralph followed Simon deep into the forest, and as much as he thought he knew the island, he had trouble distinguishing where exactly they were. Simon finally stopped, and on the ground were dandelions; there must’ve been hundreds. Ralph didn’t have the heart to tell the smiling boy that dandelions were not a flower, but a weed. 

Simon sat down in the middle of the field and began to carefully pick the flowers. Ralph copied Simon, who seemed to be making a sort of wreath. They sat in silence, but it was a peaceful one. Absorbed in their creations, they knotted together grass and dandelions. 

“There,” Simon spoke first, holding out his wreath. Ralph glanced at his own, which was, to his chagrin, not nearly as beautiful as Simon’s. Simon stood up and walked to Ralph, who looked at him, confused. Simon lowered his wreath onto Ralph’s head. 

“It’s a crown. A flower crown. You are chief, after all.” Simon smiled as he sat back down. 

“You’re batty, Simon!” Ralph exclaimed, but he was smiling. 

“Come here,” Ralph commanded. Simon scooted towards him, and Ralph stood up. 

“I crown you, Sir Simon, a knight of…” Ralph thought for a second. 

“Wonderland. I, the chief of Wonderland appoint Sir Simon, the first knight of Wonderland,” Ralph managed seriously, before collapsing into giggles at his own seriousness. Simon, knowing it was a joke, still couldn’t help but feel honoured that he was the first knight. Not Jack, Piggy or any of the other boys: him. 

“Thank you, chief Ralph,” Simon stammered, positioning his crown perfectly on his head. He looked at Ralph, and blue eyes met hazel as they smiled at each other. 

 

We found wonderland  
You and I got lost in it  
And life was never worse but never better

 

Ralph shook his head; he couldn’t believe it. Jack had left. He shook his head again, as if doing so would shake his memories away.

“Ralph?” Ralph looked up to see Piggy, who looked indignant. 

“I’ve been talking Ralph, weren’t you listening?” 

“Sorry,” Ralph said absentmindedly, looking around. Everyone else had gone to Jack’s party it seemed. He couldn’t say he was surprised. 

“Wait, where’s Simon?” Ralph asked; he didn’t expect Simon to betray him. Sure, Simon had voted for Jack in the beginning, but he had to. Everything has changed since then: the berries, the flowers; surely Simon wouldn’t just disappear on him. 

“He probably went too,” Piggy said in glum response. 

“We better go, to make sure nothing’s happening, that is,” Ralph said, though he was hiding his true motives. He wanted to know where Simon was, and he had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. The possibility of being betrayed by batty little Simon, for some ridiculous reason, pierced his heart in a way that Jack hadn’t when he had betrayed him outright. It was with this in mind that he began to walk across the beach to the unfriendly side of the island. 

 

So we went on our way  
Too in love to think straight  
All alone or so it seemed

 

Simon staggered through the forest. He was sweating, and he felt so queasy. The beast, it was only a man. A parachute man. He had to tell them, he had to tell the others. He stumbled through the crowd, finally seeing the beach. The others were doing some sort of dance, and Simon felt a surge of fear. He shook his head; it was OK, Ralph would be there. Everything would be OK. Simon stumbled out of the thicket into the middle of the circle, and screamed as he felt himself beaten down by sticks. He screamed so loudly he thought he couldn’t hear anything else. 

Ralph had forgotten about Simon until now; he had been distracted by Jack and food. As he danced with the rest of the boys, he searched around for Simon, but in the dark, he couldn’t distinguish one boy from the next. His felt his heart beat faster. 

“Simon?” Ralph yelled at the top of his lungs, feeling like a fool as he did so. 

“Ralph!” Ralph whirled around as he heard a distant cry of his name. 

“Simon? Simon! Simon!” Ralph yelled over and over, but he never heard back. Eventually his throat was hoarse, and as he tried to gather his thoughts, there was sudden shrieking as some monster fell down from the sky. Ralph ran as the fast as he could, finally reaching the shelters at the other side of the beach. He breathed heavily, and his eyes fluttered. He’d find Simon in the morning, he decided, before collapsing into an uneasy sleep. 

 

But there were strangers watching  
And whispers turned to talking  
And talking turned to screams

 

Simon. They’d killed Simon: he’d helped kill Simon. No, he was on the outside, the outside. That’s what Piggy had said. They’d been on the outside. Ralph shook; he knew it wasn’t true. He’d stabbed Simon; of course he didn’t know it was Simon, but… Ralph collapsed into sobs. His head ached, and he felt as if he was being taken by death itself. Ralph swore he could feel something inside him break, and never repair. 

 

I reach for you  
But you were gone  
I knew I had to go back home

 

“Simon! Simon!” The shrieks echoed through the halls.

“Hold him down.”  
“Strap him in.” 

“There you go, Ralph, calm down.”  
“Sedate him.”

The needle sunk into Ralph’s arm, and his body flopped down as he instantly went unconscious. The nurses breathed a sigh of relief. This happened most nights, and it seemed to be getting worse lately. Despite the years Ralph had spent at the hospital, still, nobody knew who Simon was. In art therapy, Ralph had drawn a boy with dark hair, sitting next to himself. Some of them speculated this was the infamous Simon, but nobody could confirm. 

Back on the bed, Ralph was flopped and lifeless, his arms spread at his side, mirroring the position of Simon when he his dead body had floated into the ocean, some sixty years ago. 

You searched the world for something else  
to make you feel like what we had  
And in the end in wonderland  
we both went mad


End file.
